Ji Chang-wook for Empress Ki, plus a teaser

Ha, and like clockwork, now we get the stills for Ji Chang-wook in MBC’s upcoming sageuk drama Empress Ki, playing the young Yuan emperor who falls in love with a Goryeo woman. Alas I can’t claim credit for guessing that’d we’d get the stills today, what with its predictable promo schedule and all.

We’ve covered this show three days in a row on this site (here’s Ha Ji-won and Joo Jin-mo) so… I think I’d rather not bore us all and repeat myself. On to the preview!

The teaser lays out the main conflict in pretty stark terms: One voice orders, “Kill the crown prince.” On the other hand, the Goryeo king (Joo Jin-mo) orders, “We cannot let the crown prince die in Goryeo.” Okay, conflict established. The unseen voice adds that if the prince dies, Goryeo will have to take responsibility for it — war with Yuan, perhaps. Well, with all the fighting and warfare going on in the preview, at least our characters are equipped for battle.

October 16, 2013 at 2:23 PM

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Um, squeeeeeeeee? After the PR events of the past few days, I truly have no words left to speak anymore... but I almost electrocuted myself trying to mop up all the drool on my keyboard. Those sad eyes put me over the edge!

October 16, 2013 at 2:57 PM

October 16, 2013 at 3:26 PM

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Through wind and snow and rain and makjang and rom-com and time-travel and just plain WTFery... you will always see me worshipping at The Church of Chang-wook. Hell, I'm more reliable than the Post Office these days! :P

October 16, 2013 at 8:58 PM

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Ha. I'm an old-timer KDrama watcher, but I don't hardly post on the DB threads unless I'm actively watching the show in question. Sadly, my work schedule only allows devouring one or two shows at a time -- and it doesn't help matters that I might be assisting in a trial on 21 October which will greatly cut into my squeeeeeeeeeeing over this show. *sigh*

But everyone who's been frequenting the OT already knows of my great love for Changwook-ah. Doesn't matter if it's a really crappy show (BVS, ouch!) or outright success (yay WBDS!), he's got a fan for life... and he knows it too! :D

October 16, 2013 at 8:58 PM

October 17, 2013 at 5:15 PM

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I couldn't..quuuuiiitttee.... place the name and the face, so I thought that I would read some of the comments, and there you were... so ENTHUSIASTIC! You *made my night!* I looked up our Chang-Wook, and "YES" I *did* know and recognize him! He was my ABSOLUTE. CRUSH. from the drama "Five Fingers." So I thank you, Cherkell! I share your enthusiasm for this fantastic actor (not to mention, uber fine on sooo many levels..mmm...mmm...mmmmm!) ;) He is, by far, one of the most compelling actors in K-Drama land, especially with those soulful eyes. I will be looking into this drama....and re-looking into some of his past works.

Do you recommend any of his past movies or dramas, in particular? Just curious! :)

Loved your posts! See you in future commentaries, should you be there, regarding this new drama!

October 16, 2013 at 8:07 PM

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I don't think there is any over-hype here. The aggressive promotions for the other drama started months ago (6 months if I am not wrong) whereas Empress releases its first teaser only now, 2 weeks before its premiere. Its really not a fair comparision.

If Empress doesn't release its teasers and still now, when do we expect it to do so?

October 17, 2013 at 11:22 AM

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Haha, but in "Frozen Flower", Joo Jin-mo was playing (assumed) Gongmin. Now in "Empress Ki", he's gonna play Gongmin's elder brother Chunghye.

As a matter of fact, I'm wondering whether production would even cast the roles of Empress Ki's brother Ki Cheol (hoping same actor in "Faith"), & the famous Gongmin & Princess Noguk (FYI, Princess Noguk's paternal aunt was the 2nd Mongolian bride of Chunghye & Gongmin's dad. The 3rd Mongolian princess will be played by Yoon Ah-jung).
But please do not cast Park Se-yeong as Noguk, even though she's leaving MuBank and still busy with "(In)sincerity Moves Heaven".

October 17, 2013 at 1:13 PM

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Who is playing Princess Deok Nyeong ,the Mongolian princess who married Chunghye and the mother of King Chungmok?

The Mongolian Princess/Queen Noguk would have been a better political rival to Empress Ki' and her power hungry family. She gave Gongmin a back-bone to stand up for the Goryeo people.
Empress Ki basically controlled the Yuan emperor and her brother acted like he was the king of Goryeo until Gongmin executed him.

I wonder if the writer will ditch her brother and make Empress Ki a savior for the Goryeo people. I bet the viewers reaction will not be the same with Bidam falling for Queen Seon Deok lol.

Gongmin's part of history is well known and there has been quite a few sageuks based on it and I think that the writer decided to explore the Yuan side of the history. This might be uninteresting to the Korean viewers and writer Jang usually sticks with his story. He is kind of the opposite of writer Kim Young Hyun who penned QSD and Dae Jang Geum. Kim is a fan pleaser and both the ending of QSD and Dae Jang Geum were changed last minute for the viewers.

The only thing interesting to me with this drama is the writer and his version of this era. I'm both a fan of Korean history and Korean historical dramas and I kind of try to see it from both sides.

October 18, 2013 at 9:41 AM

Make sense. This would be one of those sageuks that totally distort history to the max.

I dropped Faith after the 2nd eps but I read some of the recaps. I wished they kept the original with Kang Ji Hwan. I prefer Shin Don's Ki Cheol, he was more real and Shin Don wasn't a fantasy sageuk.

I feel like an old lady talking about all these old dramas and ancient history lol. I prefer the old school conventional sageuks to fusion and fantasy. I think its more to do with history and conventional sageuks tend to follow it more closely.

I took a Korean history class in Hawaii and I really enjoyed it. My professor is one of the very few in the states who can write and read classical Chinese.

October 18, 2013 at 9:52 AM

October 18, 2013 at 10:45 AM

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@Kiara

Like any sageuk hasn't not distorted historical facts...even sageuk in the strictest sense (early 2000's) has bent the rules for sure...

I know...my most fave scene (actually the only scene I was familiar) in "Shindon" was when Princess Noguk got a sword and began dancing the sword dance. Just wanna ask (if you remember that scene), who was the (rather badly attired and shaven) "Mongolian" (who suggested Noguk pour everyone a drink) and the chubby lady (who said that the dance would be an eyesore)?

Nah, you're not alone. My first foray into Korean culture was "Dae Jang-geum", and became a fan of sageuk ever since. Fave of all is "Yeoin Cheonha".

Lucky prof. What I wouldn't give just to have someone teach me Classical Chinese...

October 18, 2013 at 1:17 PM

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I know, I know every single sageuk distorted history but this is going to be one of those that takes it to the maximum where you need to forget about the history books in order to enjoy it (reminds self). Does that make any sense to you?. More like what you would do with a fantasy sageuk.

I loved Noguk in that scene, open rebellious and although she was very different from Empress Ki they were both traitors imo.
I don't even want to think about the grooming habits in those days lol. Maybe he didn't have time to shave and take a shower after traveling for days. Gross but realistic.
One would find Lee Dae Yeon who played Ki Cheol pretty annoying but I thought this old veteran was perfect for the role. Ki Cheol could have been a superficial villain but he add depth to his character.

I have not seen "Yeoin Cheonha" but it sounds "like" Cruel Palace or am I totally off here?
A few favorites of mine, Tears of the Dragon, Sejong The Great, The original Heo Joon from 2000, Shin Don of course and I cant forget Admiral Yi Soon Shin and the amazing Kim Myung Min. Conspiracy in the Court and Tree With Deep Roots are two of my fav fusions.
Dae Jang Geum will always be special to me because it brought me to Dramaland thanks to my mom making me watch it with her.

October 19, 2013 at 9:08 AM

Yeah, like one of those dramas where you don't your brain and logic, just for the ratings. Like how Anthony would've wanted it his way. XD *snerk*

Empress Ki was a traitor to Korea, and Noguk was a traitor to Yuan and her kin (she was Khublai's great-great-grandfather)?

I was not talking about grooming habits actually. I was taking note of how others were pointi g out how "badly" that Mongolian looked. Like he wouldn't even pass as a late-14th century Mongolian, blame bad props. XP

You should check it out. Besides one of the classics, both costume and setting are matched evenly (I especially liked the hairsyle, since it was so "normal"-looking. Jeon In-hwa's Queen Munjeong has got nothing over "Mandate"'s Queen Munjeong (horrible wig).
Well, maybe, but without the Qing interference...only one Ming Dynasty female-officially-male merchant. Same timelines of "Dae Jang-geum" & "Mandate" combined.

Oh "Tears of the Dragon", that's a good one, same author (Park Jong-hwa) as of "Yeoin Cheonha".
Yes, "Heo Joon" by PD Lee, where you got some familiar faces reused in "DJG"
Also, "Admiral Yi Soon Shin" and the amazing Kim Myeong-min. Yoo Dong-geun (even though someone I respect from both "TotD" & "Empress Myeongseong") was a terrible choice for That-Other-Drama-Not-To-Be-Named. Interesting FYI though, next year Yoo Dong-geun will be playing Jeong Do-jeon, and if you remember 1997 you'll get why I find it interesting.

And the forever fab "Dae Jang Geum", celebrating its 10th-year anniversary. Forver will be missed.

October 16, 2013 at 9:49 PM

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Hiya @stuffs! We meet again! :)

The music production company has not been announced yet. We should hear something in the next few days; should definitely be announced prior to the premiere. The incidental music played underneath both previews sounds pretty epic, no?

But the artist for the OST Part.1 has been announced: D.O. (Lee Hyun-do) from the 1990s rap-dance group Deux. He has a pretty decent ballad style too, so here's hoping he's not going to rap the first song for this show. Don't make me pull out my sword and iron hammer so soon, dangit!!! *crossing fingers*

October 17, 2013 at 11:32 AM

Never mind, I was gonna ask when was Ukhaantu Khan (Togon Temür) actually titled the Crown Prince. Forgot it was his uncle Jayaatu Khan who wanted to succeed to the throne on his deathbed...XP Lelz...

BTW, info: the reason why the screencap on Ji Chang-wook is labeled 원나라 황제, 순제 = The Emperor of Yuan, the Shundi Emperor, was because the Ming Dynasty gave that title, despite his temple name being Emperor Huizong.

October 17, 2013 at 12:00 PM

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I made a feeble attempt at trying to wrap my mind around the somewhat-distorted history we're gonna be subject to via an 'Empress Ki' Pre-Cap on Scotch and Asparagus. Click the link if you're interested in my wanderings!

October 17, 2013 at 4:21 PM

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thank you!!!

but wait, wait, wait!

is this that empress ki whose brother was a prince in the goryeo court - as fictionally presented in "faith"?! (because she was married to the last or next-to-last yuan emperor, as far as i can remember my kdrama history, then it was time for the ming dinasty. i trust eun-soo to remember her succession order lessons lol.)

October 18, 2013 at 4:23 AM

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Seriously, yes, this is Ki Cheol's famous sister, married to the last Yuan Emperor.

I'd recommend the drama "Shindon" for you. Even though a bit old and the lead is the monk Shindon and the ever-famous couple Gongmin & Noguk, it shows both siblings, the Empress and his power-hungry brother in power.

October 17, 2013 at 9:06 PM

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I'm soo looking forward to this drama ever since HJW accepted the role.. kekeke!! I used to ignore 50-episode Sageuk but after watching Dae Jang Geun, Dong Yi and Queen Seon Deok, I've learned to love it. With Empress Ki, I think I'm going to start watching it on april.

October 19, 2013 at 1:38 AM

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Lots of comments regarding JCW's hairstyle.iIn the Chinese drama "Legend of the Mongol-Yuan empire founder or The legend of Kublai Khan-not all of the characters are wearing the traditional Mongolian hairstyle.Lots of them have braided hair each side.Even in the Hong Kong drama "Eternal happiness" supposed to be during the Yuan period their hairstyles were also different. So much for being authentic even the Chinese are not really in to the Mongolian hairstyle.

February 26, 2014 at 2:47 PM

July 16, 2014 at 1:45 PM

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i love both the actor ji chang wook and ha ji won they wer made for each other so matching hope they both have a very good relationship ,i wan them to be inloved as boyfren and girlfren they wer so lovely .love them both